2G vs 3G 2 year rate comparison

[rickpoet]

Hi,

Just did a 2 year comparison for what it would cost us to buy 2 original iPhones vs 2 3G iPhones. Purchasing 2 with the lowest price family plan, assuming we could find 2 old iphones, we figured it would cost us over the course of the 2 year contract $800 more to own the new iPhones versus what it would cost to buy the original with the original rate plans. (And that's without a texting option on the 3G plan.)

So great that the iPhone is 'half the price' to walk out the door with, we now have to decide if the faster speed and GPS are worth spending $800 more over 2 years.

Any thoughts?

Rick

and the details in case you're interested:


Phone cost (One 8gig and one 16gig)

2G - $898 (slower internet, no GPS)
3G - $498 (faster internet and GPS)


Rates for 2 years (same minutes, text included with 2G, not with 3G)

2G - $1920 ($79 a month for 2 years)
3G - $3096 ($129 a month for 2 years)


Totals for 2 years iPhone Ownership

2G - $2818
3G - $3596 ($778 more than 2G)

 

[thor79]

I'm sure I've seen someting like this before.

Congrats...you're good at Math (or so it appears, I haven't run the numbers myself).

People will buy it anyway.

Me personally? I'll be paying the same bill I've been paying for like 6 years....about $80 per month. I'm dropping text messages with the 3G iPhone, but then again, I never use them on my current phone anyway...nothing missed, and I actually lose the sms spam. Combine that with faster internet and gps...it's definitely better than my current phone. All in all a good upgrade for me.

Up to you to make the decision for yourself.

What is your current plan like. Do you have internet on your phone? Is it Edge, 3G, regular GPRS? Do you have a GPS enabled device? Look at the two phones and add up the pros and cons compared to your current phones.

For me it goes like this:
Current Phone:
Pro:
Not a target of iPhone theives (or pretty much any cell phone theives in general)
Con:
Edge - Slower Internet, but bearable
Limited to Google's Cell Tower GPS-like system. (only just discovered this)
Much more limited on music storage. (2GB miniSD card)
No Touch Screen.
Difficult to use joystick to navigate.
Difficult to use Bluetooth syncing.

3G iPhone:
Pro:
3G - Much faster
Full GPS along with Cell Tower and Wifi location services
Wifi
More Music storage than I currently have music (adds up to like 10GB)
Bigger screen
Better Keyboard (I hate the keyboard on the 2125)
Easy to use Touchscreen.

Con:
Initial Upfront cost (fortunately my dad is taking care of it as a birthday present/christmas gift, but this will mean no more Christmas Gifts)
No Text Messages (didn't use them anyway)
Target of iPhone theives
Don't think I can sync via bluetooth.


edit: Sorry I have a habit of editing heavily.

 

[meagain]

I don't understand your numbers. I.e.; where are you getting it's $80 a month for current iphone and $50 a month extra for 3g?

 

[rickpoet]

re: the numbers

I don't understand your numbers. I.e.; where are you getting it's $80 a month for current iphone and $50 a month extra for 3g?

Hi,

It's $79 a month for the family plan on the 2G iPhone plans and $129 a month for the family plan with the 3G.

Rick

P.S. to the previous poster, you can thank my calculator for the math skills, they certainly aren't mine.

 

[joekun]

Rates for 2 years (same minutes, text included with 2G, not with 3G)

2G - $1920 ($79 a month for 2 years)
3G - $3096 ($129 a month for 2 years)

I think your numbers are wrong for the 2G, the cheapest family plan is $59.99 (that's with 550 minutes if available in your area), then you have to tack on $40/month for 2 data plans, so it's $99/month. If the 550 plan is not available then it would be $109/month, which would be the same number of minutes (700) that the 3G plan you're using has. So, more accurately:

Rates for 2 years (same minutes, text included with 2G, not with 3G)

2G - $2616 ($109 a month for 2 years)
3G - $3096 ($129 a month for 2 years)

 

[GfPQqmcRKUvP]

Hi,

It's $79 a month for the family plan on the 2G iPhone plans and $129 a month for the family plan with the 3G.

Rick

P.S. to the previous poster, you can thank my calculator for the math skills, they certainly aren't mine.

Most people who are upgrading from the previous iPhone are grandfathered into their old plans and only need to pay the increase in data and the addition of a texting plan. $15 more per month for me. And now that I am able to use my FAN discount, I can deal with another 100-200 bucks extra during two years of service for a cool new iPhone.

 

[joekun]

It's $79 a month for the family plan on the 2G iPhone plans and $129 a month for the family plan with the 3G.

Okay, I see where you're getting that number now, the original family plans only included the price of one phone if you can believe it, you need to add $10 for an additional line and $20 for data service for the 2nd phone.

 

[Apple2TheCore]

Okay, I see where you're getting that number now, the original family plans only included the price of one phone if you can believe it, you need to add $10 for an additional line and $20 for data service for the 2nd phone.

Single line over 2 years:

2G 8G iPhone (assuming you got in June 29, 2007)
Phone $600
2 Years of cheapest service (24 x $60) =$2040

3G 8G iPhone
Phone $200
2 Years of cheapest service without loosing 200 TM (24x$75) = $2000

Guess it all depends on your situation.

 

[meagain]

700 minutes

2g: 2 old iPhones: $110 (incl SMS)
3g: 2 new iPhones: $130 (plus $5 each for SMS)

2 new iPhones with SMS cost $30 more total a month. Not $50

 

[peterhenley]

Most people who are upgrading from the previous iPhone are grandfathered into their old plans and only need to pay the increase in data and the addition of a texting plan. $15 more per month for me. And now that I am able to use my FAN discount, I can deal with another 100-200 bucks extra during two years of service for a cool new iPhone.

so if I am now paying for a 550 minute family plan with one iphone and one regular Razr (50+20 data+10 2nd line=80+tax), I will get grandfathered into the 550 minutes with a net of +$10? (plus $5 for 200 text). I didn't realize the new plans started at 700 mins... $129.99 is a little steep..

 

[meagain]

Its my understanding they have a 550 min plan but IDK why it's not advertised in the cute little iPhone plan boxes.

 

[rickpoet]

Okay, I see where you're getting that number now, the original family plans only included the price of one phone if you can believe it, you need to add $10 for an additional line and $20 for data service for the 2nd phone.

I think it's $10 extra per line after the first 2 lines. (So 2 lines are included in the base family plan prices) and I thought the data was included in that figure too from what I remember?

 

[MacGeek7]

I'm glad I'm getting a 2G iPhone...I don't live in a 3G area...the nearest city with 3G is about an hour away...

 

[joekun]

I think it's $10 extra per line after the first 2 lines. (So 2 lines are included in the base family plan prices) and I thought the data was included in that figure too from what I remember?

For the 3G iPhone that is correct, but not for the old one.

If you remember the 2g iphone plan was basically a standard plan plus $20 for data, there were no discounts. So if you look at a standard AT&T family plan for 700 minutes, it's $69.99. You just need to add $40 to get the price of two iphones with data. A plan with two 2g iphones was $109.99 per month plus taxes and fees.

It's tough to find the old rate info, but I do recall being surprised that the iphone family plans only included the price for one phone.

 

[skwoytek]

I think it's $10 extra per line after the first 2 lines. (So 2 lines are included in the base family plan prices) and I thought the data was included in that figure too from what I remember?

I have this plan and no the second phone's data is not included in the quoted rate.

Here's how it works out:

1st line: $80
2nd line: $9.99 -> That's the $89.99 1400 min. family voice plan.

1st line iPhone data: $20 (1st gen iPhone)
2nd line iPhone data: $20 (1st gen iPhone)

Total: $129.99

I have unlimited Txt for all lines: $30

Total: $159.99

With two iPhone 3Gs I'll be paying an extra $10 per line.

Total: $179.99

And with 3G, I get my 15% FAN discount off the voice portion of the bill.

Discounted Total: $167.99

So I'm really adding $8 to my total (two iPhone) bill per month. I'd say, $4 per phone isn't bad at all!


For most people, the easiest way to figure this out is just saying you'll pay an extra $15 per month per iPhone 3G.